


Someone Found a Shadow

by Inauladomitiani



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Despite the relationship tags Jon is absent, Gen, and watching Arya feeling things, everyone feeling things about Jon, this is mostly Sam feeling things
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-19
Updated: 2014-08-19
Packaged: 2018-02-13 20:54:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2164854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inauladomitiani/pseuds/Inauladomitiani
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Who are you?"<br/>"No one." She stank of fish. "I used to be someone, but now I'm not."</p><p>What if Sam had noticed who he was talking to when a skinny child stepped in to save him from the bravos? More to the point, what does one do with a skinny child who may or may not be the Lord Commander's sister?</p><p>AU from AFFC, so spoilers up to there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Someone Found a Shadow

**Author's Note:**

> The first chapter works best reading it directly from the point in Sam's POV where it diverges- AFFC Sam 3, Chapter 26. (That can be found online at http://www.freebestbook.com/Vampires/a_feast_for_crows/26.html)

"The bravos never bother anyone without a sword. Not even stupid camel cunts like Terro and Orbelo," the girl told him. Sam watched her desposit her barrow and look up at him.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"No one." She stank of fish. "I used to be someone, but now I'm not. You can call me Cat, if you like." She pushed her bedraggled hair out of her face to look up at him. "Who are you?"

In the dim light, her eyes looked grey. Something about that and her dark hair was familiar. Sam frowned. _You speak the Common Tongue_ , he nearly said.

"I said who are you, stupid!"

"I- Samwell, of House Tarly." If he didn't know he'd never seen her before, he could have sworn he recognised those eyes- but where from eluded him. If only he could just remember, if only he wasn't so cold, so tired, so hungry. They had no food and no fire and no money, and Dareon wasn’t helping them one bit. Sam wished Jon hadn’t sent the singer with them. Actually, he wished Jon hadn’t sent them away at all, even if it hadn’t been Jon who sent them, but Lord Commander Snow, who switched Gilly’s baby and forced Sam to sail to Oldtown. Jon wouldn’t have done that. Sam wanted to cry. He missed Jon. Suddenly, unbidden, something jogged his memory.

“What’s your name?”

“Cat, I told you. You don’t listen very well.”

_Grey eyes._

"Where in Westeros are you from?" He asked.

She squinted at him suspiciously. "How d'you know I'm from Westeros?"

"You- you speak the Common Tongue very well," Sam managed. _You remind me of someone,_ he thought.

Cat shrugged. "King's Landing."

 _North eyes_.

Sam hesitated. "Not the North?"

She recoiled visibly and tensed up. "No, not the North, idiot. _South_. King's Landing!"

Sam flinched away feebly. "Sorry, you just reminded me... of..."  
 _Jon’s eyes._

She narrowed her eyes, hand reaching for her skinny blade. "Who?" But there was a quake in her voice.

 _Stark eyes_. Sam stared at her face again, thunderstruck. Now he could remember talking to Jon when he first arrived at the Wall, Jon's stories about his brothers and sisters, training and talking and playing with them at Winterfell, Robb and Sansa and Bran and Rickon, and the sister he was closest to; Arya. The eyes were _definitely_ Jon’s. Sam wracked his brain. What else had Jon said about his sister? Could this be her? Small, wild and wilful, that fitted. But what was she doing half a world away in Braavos? Arya Stark would be in Westeros, Sam was sure- that is, if she were still alive. He suddenly realised he was still staring at the girl. Cat was getting increasingly uneasy under his gaze. He shook himself, but couldn’t quite stop looking at her eyes. The closer he looked, the more he thought of Jon.

"Of-" and then he changed his mind. The girl looked ready to bolt. "Of one of my friends in the Night’s Watch. The Lord Commander. He’s a good man, and true. He’s my _closest_ friend,” Sam emphasised- and then paused, his mind turning over helplessly. He had to find out if this was Jon’s sister, and if she was- if she was, what then? He couldn’t take her to Oldtown with Gilly and Maester Aemon. He’d have to get her passage to Eastwatch, to the Wall, back to Jon. But he had no coin, and what would a girl her age do on the Wall? She might not even want to go. A part of Sam wanted to turn around and carry on through Braavos looking for Dareon. He didn’t want this, didn’t want any of these problems. Why should he look after Jon’s maybe-sister anyway- Lord Commander Snow wouldn’t care about Cat any more than he cared about Sam or Gilly’s babe.

Sam knew he was being ridiculous. Of course Jon would care about her, if she was his sister. Sam was the one who didn’t care, he realised. Didn’t care because he was too occupied with his own troubles, his empty purse and rumbling stomach- or didn’t want to care, maybe, because this girl reminded him of Jon so much that it hurt. That made him ashamed. He was a man of the Night’s Watch, an honourable soldier. He couldn’t in good conscience walk away now. So he forced himself to stay, compose himself and address the girl. _For Jon,_ he told himself. _For Jon, so maybe he can find his heart inside Lord cold-as-ice-Commander Snow._ Cat was looking at him hesitantly.

“The Lord Commander? Who’s he?” _This is it,_ thought Sam.

“You might have heard of him, if you left Westeros not long ago.” He had to make her want to know more; he had to get her to listen and to trust him. “He saved me, when I first joined the black brothers. We rode beyond the Wall together to fight the wildlings. He spied on them and defeated them at Castle Black when they attacked. We saved the Wall, all because of him.” It worked. The girl hadn’t moved. She looked afraid, more afraid than ever, even upset, but slowly she stepped forwards.

“What’s his name?”

“Jon Snow.”

She gasped, then quickly wrenched her barrow away from Sam. “I don’t know who that is and I don’t care either!” She told him fiercely. “I’m nothing to do with him, I’m- I’m no-one!”

“You used to be someone, you said,” Sam reminded her anxiously. “Cat, don’t worry, I didn’t mean to upset you. I don’t want anything from you. I want to _help_. Please, will you trust me?”

She shook her head and wiped her face on the back of her hands. “I don’t trust anyone.”

Sam felt helpless. If she ran away from him now, he’d never be able to bring himself to tell Jon he found her. He’d found Bran too; he wished he could tell Jon that. But he’d sworn an oath. _Well then_ , he thought, _I’ll swear another one now_. He couldn’t give Jon back a brother, but he could give him his sister. Sam squatted down by the barrow, deciding that if this really was Arya he would get her back to him. _For Jon._ Maybe it would help him pull back Jon from beneath Lord Snow’s stone exterior.

“How about a promise then?” He suggested hopefully. “If I promise not to harm you, or- carry you off, or tell anyone that I met you, will you promise to listen to everything I tell you without- without interrupting or running away or anything?”

Cat chewed her lip, her face creasing, then nodded. “All right. But you couldn’t harm me anyway, I’d stab you before you could carry me off.”

Sam took a deep breath. This was far from how he had imagined his evening would go. _For Jon,_ he reminded himself once more.

“You are Arya, of House Stark.” Sam watched her. She flinched, but true to her word she made no move to flee. “Jon is your natural brother. I know this because I know Jon, and you look just like him. Jon and I are friends. We swore our vows together and travelled together and defended Castle Black, _together._ I want to help Jon, so I want to help you. My- my lady, I don’t know what you’re doing in Braavos, but Jon thinks you’re dead. He thinks all his brothers are dead too. As far as anyone in Westeros knows, your sister is the only Stark left alive. If he knows you are too he’ll want to keep you safe. I don’t have any coin but I can write a letter to the commander of Eastwatch-by-the-Sea to get you safe travel to Castle Black, to get you back to Jon.” Sam realised he sounded like he was pleading with her. “You’ll be safe at the Wall. Please.” The girl was stood as if made from stone, her eyes fixed on him. He waited anxiously for her to respond. Finally, she took a deep breath in and looked out across the harbour, wiping her face again.

“I was- I am Arya Stark.” The admission seemed heavy as it fell from her mouth. It looked like it took most of her being with it. Her shoulders were sunk, her head was bowed and her arms were wrapped around her thin frame. Sam waited for her to say more, but she didn’t.

“So will you come with me? Will you go to the Wall?” He pressed, hoping for Jon’s sake that she would say yes. If she didn’t, there was nothing he could do except write a letter to Jon, give it to the captain of the next ship leaving for Eastwatch, and tell the captain to instruct the castellan at Eastwatch to send it by raven to Castle Black. Jon would probably never get it, and if he did it would break his heart.

The girl still faced the sea. She turned back to the cart and clenched a handful of clams, hesitated, then threw them across the harbour. Arya looked up.

“Yes.”

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written a while ago- I finally decided to bite the bullet and upoad it. I'm fairly happy with it and I think I'd like to continue it, but as I've lent out my books and am starting A2s this autumn, I'm not sure how possible that will be. I have a potential plotline, but any comments/suggestions on where to take this, please let me know! I'd love feedback of any sort.


End file.
